When the Bears moved on from veteran safety Tashaun Gipson after the 2021 season, he figured that would be the end of his career. Instead, he’s about to play in his first Super Bowl as the 49ers’ starting safety.
They signed him in training camp in 2022 and Gipson, 33, has started nearly every game for them the last two seasons.
“I started talking to my financial advisor and I started a Little League team,” Gipson said Tuesday. “I was well cemented into being Coach Dad. That was a role that looked good on me. Then the 49ers called.
“I kinda just [accepted] this is the reality and I was blessed enough to play 10 years, which is an accomplishment in itself. Then I got that call, and it changed my life.”
Gipson started for the Bears alongside Eddie Jackson in 2020 and ’21 and had four interceptions.
He called the current 49ers the best defense he’s ever played on, though he had hoped the Bears would’ve been that when he joined a roster that had Khalil Mack, Akiem Hicks and other big names.
The Bears went 14-19 in Gipson’s two seasons, and the defense plunged to 22nd in the league in 2021.
“We had the talent, but it just didn’t work out,” he said. “Injuries, man, kinda put me behind the eight ball. It wasn’t a good season individually or collectively, so it left a lot more to be desired. I’m forever thankful for Chicago, though. I hate that we didn’t get it done.”
Winning a Super Bowl would be incredible for Gipson, who has been an underdog his entire career. He wasn’t heavily recruited coming out of high school and landed at Wyoming, then went undrafted in 2012. He made the Browns’ roster that year and went on to make the Pro Bowl in 2014 and raked in $43.5 million in salary over 12 seasons.
